Cybersecurity is not always a case of the attackers trying to attack innocent victims and networks.
Thanks to a decoy computer system known as a “honeypot”, this role is sometimes reversed.
But what exactly is a honeypot, and how does it help mitigate cyber-attacks?
Are there different types of honeypots, and do they also come with some risk factors?
Let’s find out.
What Is a Honeypot?
A honeypot is a deception technology employed by security teams to intentionally trap threat actors.
Can a Honeypot Help Mitigate Cyberattacks?
This allows organizations to conduct a cyberattack in a controlled environment to gauge potential vulnerabilities in their system.
The ultimate goal of a honeypot is to enhance an organization’s security posture byutilizing adaptive security.
We’ve listed some of these below.
Honeypots by Levels of Interaction
Honeypots can also be categorized by attributes.
This simply means assigning the decoy based on its level of interaction.
High-Interaction Honeypots:These honeypots do not hold too much data.
These types of honeypots allow the security teams to see the actions and strategies of intruding attackers in real-time.
High-interaction honeypots are typically resource-intensive.
This can present maintenance challenges, but the insight they offer is well worth the effort.
Low-Interaction Honeypots:These honeypots are mostly deployed in production environments.
By running on a limited number of services, they serve as early detection points for security teams.
Low-interaction honeypots are mostly idle, waiting for some activity to happen so they can alert you.
Since these honeypots lack fully functional services, not much is left for cyberattackers to achieve.
However, they are fairly easy to deploy.
Malware Honeypots:Sometimes attackers venture to infect open and vulnerable systems by hosting a malware sample on them.
For example, a honeypot can be used for imitating a universal serial bus (USB) storage machine.
If a computer comes under attack, the honeypot fools the malware into attacking the simulated USB.
This allows the security teams to acquire huge amounts of new malware samples from attackers.
Spam Honeypots:These honeypots attract spammers by usingopen proxiesand mail relays.
